‘Care is not a dirty word!’ Enacting an ethic of care in social work practice

ABSTRACT

While ‘care’ has been positioned as a core value of the social work profession since its inception, the increasing influence of neoliberal rationalities have placed care on the periphery of social work theory and practice. Social work scholars have promoted the incorporation of ethic of care theory into direct social work practice as a means of countering the effects of a context that is antithetical to caring practice. I present findings from my Australian study, providing an original contribution by presenting concrete understandings of how social workers enact care in everyday direct social work practice. The study was guided by a grounded theory approach. Fifteen social workers were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. The interviews were analysed using constructivist grounded theory techniques. ‘Meeting needs’, ‘just being there for clients’, ‘building relationships with clients’, and ‘going the extra mile’ were some of the ways that participants demonstrated care in their practice. Constraints on care were challenged and resisted by ‘taking a stand’, ‘bending the rules’, ‘picking battles’, ‘justifying care’, and ‘taking risks’.

KEYWORDS:

• Care
• social work
• direct practice
• ethics
• neo-liberalism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Dr Jenny Hay is a lecturer in the social work programme with the University of Tasmania, Australia. She completed her PhD in 2016, titled, ‘Shining a light on an ethic of care in direct social work practice.’ Her main research interest is in ethics in social work practice, and human service professions more generally. Prior to returning to academic life in 2010 she worked as a social worker with the Tasmanian Department of Education.